The embodiments described herein relate in general to the field of fiber optics. More specifically, the embodiments described herein relate to affixing a fiber optic sensing element to monitor the structural integrity of an apparatus.
Optical fibers have been used in communication systems to transmit information. Recently, optical fibers have been used for sensing purposes. Fiber optic sensors use optical fibers (also referred to as fiber optic cables) as sensing elements. Such sensing is based on the fact that changes in the environment surrounding the optical fiber affect the transmitted or back scattered optical signal within the fiber. Such a technology has a variety of advantages. For example, fiber optic sensors have higher signal bandwidth, are immune to electromagnetic interferences, provide safe operation (for example, no electric sparks are present, and thus can be used in a hazardous area), and are easy to install. In addition, fiber optic sensing is distributed, in that measurements can be made throughout the length of a fiber optic cable. In such a manner, measurements can be achieved in the range of 10 kilometers or more. The installation is simple in that there is no need for multiple wires to transmit data over such great distances. A single fiber optic distributed sensor can be equivalent to thousands of point sensors. Various techniques can be used to increase the range of such a distributed sensor.